This is our country. But singer John Mellencamp’s vision of the United States of America doesn’t jive with that of a prominent Republican namesake.

John Mellencamp has asked John McCain to cease playing his terrific song “Our Country” as well as his 1980s hit “Pink Houses” and other songs, because he doesn’t exactly approve of the GOP senator’s agenda.

“Are you sure you want to use [John's] music?” a letter from Mellencamp’s reps to McCain reads. “Logic says the facts might prove to be an embarrassment.”

John McCain shouldn’t hold his breath for a John Mellencamp endorsement.

“If [McCain is] such a true conservative, why [is he] playing songs that have a very populist pro-labor message written by a guy who would find no argument if you characterized him as left of center?”

Reports say John McCain staff members have responded to the singer’s request by pulling the songs from its campaign trail playlist.

John Mellencamp, 56, who will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this March, had been backing Democrat John Edwards.

Following a pyrotechnic and Daft Punk-filled performance of “Stronger,” Kanye West sang a more low-key version of “Hey Mama” in honor of late mother, Donda West, who died in November, at the Grammys last night.

Without backup singers or dancers, the Grammy winner slowly sang the words, his voice breaking at points. His eyes were full of tears by the end.

Kanye West also had the word “Mama” shaved into his hair.

After finishing the song, the audience gave him a standing ovation. A camera panned to Carrie Underwood, who had tears in her eyes.

The rapper later won Best Rap Album for Graduation.

Kanye West performs with Daft Punk at the Grammy Awards.

“I appreciate all the words of support, appreciate all the prayers,” West told the captive audience. Then, addressing singer Amy Winehouse and her producer, Mark Ronson, Kanye said that, “if I don’t win Album of the Year, I hope you’re up here because you deserve it, but I deserve it too!”

Herbie Hancock actually ended up winning that honor.

West began recollecting on his mother, and music began playing over him in an attempt to get him to wrap up his speech.

“It would be in good taste to stop the music now,” he said.

The music was turned off.

Before leaving, West continued his tribute to Donda:

“I know you’re really proud of me right now, and I know you wouldn’t want me to stop … and mama, all I want to do is keep making you proud.”

Here’s his performance from last night …

It was Amy Winehouse’s night, and it was about the music.

The British R&B / soul singer pulled off a near sweep at the 50th annual Grammy Awards Sunday, scoring five honors including record of the year, song of the year and best new artist, while performing via satellite in London.

Amy Winehouse won all the night’s top awards, except album of the year, which went to Herbie Hancock for River: The Joni Letters.

The 24-year-old recently saw her rise to music success overshadowed by a battle with drug and alcohol abuse. She has been in rehab and received a visa to attend the Grammy Awards, but too late for her to attend the ceremony.

Sunday night, however, brought the focus back onto Winehouse’s talent and her terrific breakthrough album, Back to Black, and its hit single “Rehab.”

In an emotional acceptance speech via satellite in London after she sang “You Know That I’m No Good” and “Rehab,” Winehouse, thanked her producer Mark Ronso, her mother and father, and her husband Blake Fielder-Civil.

“To my Blake, my Blake incarcerated,” Winehouse said.

Blake Fielder-Civil, 25, is currently awaiting trial in a London jail on charges of assault and witness tampering.

The major Grammy Awardwinners …

Record Of The Year

• Irreplaceable, Beyoncé
• The Pretender, Foo Fighters
• Umbrella, Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z
• What Goes Around. . .Comes Around, Justin Timberlake
• WINNER Rehab, Amy Winehouse

Album Of The Year

• Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, Foo Fighters
• These Days, Vince Gill
• WINNER River: The Joni Letters, Herbie Hancock
• Graduation, Kanye West
• Back To Black, Amy Winehouse

Song Of The Year

• Before He Cheats (Carrie Underwood)
• Hey There Delilah (Plain White T’s)
• Like A Star (Corinne Bailey Rae)
• WINNER Rehab (Amy Winehouse)
• Umbrella (Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z)

Best New Artist

• Feist
• Ledisi
• Paramore
• Taylor Swift
• WINNER Amy Winehouse

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance

• Candyman, Christina Aguilera
• 1234, Feist
• Big Girls Don’t Cry, Fergie
• Say It Right, Nelly Furtado
• WINNER Rehab, Amy Winehouse

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance

• Everything, Michael Bublé
• Belief, John Mayer
• Dance Tonight, Paul McCartney
• Amazing, Seal
• WINNER What Goes Around… Comes Around, Justin Timberlake

Best Pop Vocal Album

• Lost Highway, Bon Jovi
• The Reminder, Feist
• It Won’t Be Soon Before Long, Maroon 5
• Memory Almost Full, Paul McCartney
• WINNER Back To Black, Amy Winehouse

Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals

• (You Want To) Make A Memory, Bon Jovi
• Home, Daughtry
• WINNER Makes Me Wonder, Maroon 5
• Hey There Delilah, Plain White T’s
• Window In The Skies, U2

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals

• It’s Not Over, Daughtry
• Working Class Hero, Green Day
• If Everyone Cared, Nickelback
• Instant Karma, U2
• WINNER Icky Thump, The White Stripes

Best Rap Solo Performance

• The People, Common
• I Get Money, 50 Cent
• Show Me What You Got, Jay-Z
• Big Things Poppin’ (Do It), T.I.
• WINNER Stronger, Kanye West

Best Rap Album

• Finding Forever, Common
• Kingdom Come, Jay-Z
• Hip Hop Is Dead, Nas
• T.I. vs T.I.P., T.I.
• WINNER Graduation, Kanye West

Best Female Country Vocal Performance

• Simple Love, Alison Krauss
• Famous In A Small Town, Miranda Lambert
• Nothin’ Better To Do, LeAnn Rimes
• WINNER Before He Cheats, Carrie Underwood
• Heaven, Heartache And The Power Of Love, Trisha Yearwood

Best Male Country Vocal Performance

• Long Trip Alone, Dierks Bentley
• A Woman’s Love, Alan Jackson
• If You’re Reading This, Tim McGraw
• Give It Away, George Strait
• WINNER Stupid Boy, Keith Urban

Amy Winehouse will not be performing at this year’s Grammys because her request for a visa has been turned down by the United States.

Think this has anything to do with her repeated drug problems? That video of her apparently smoking crack could not have helped matters.

The Outside Organization, which reps Amy, issued this statement:

“Amy has been progressing well since entering a rehabilitation clinic two weeks ago and although disappointed with the decision has accepted the ruling and will be concentrating on recovery.”

Amy Winehouse shot to fame with the autobiographical single “Rehab.”

The 24-year-old and her acclaimed Back to Black album are nominated in six categories for at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Her potent blend of blues, jazz, pop and soul has won praise from critics and fans, but Winehouse has become as famous for her chaotic personal lifer.

Since the album’s U.S. release last year, Amy Winehouse has canceled a slew of appearances amid meltdowns and reports of drug and alcohol use.

According to various sources, the song “Hollywood’s Not America,” by new artist Ferras, will be the next American Idol “exit song.”

Following in the footsteps of Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day” and Daughtry’s “Home,” the song will be played as contestants are eliminated.

The song is off Ferras‘ upcoming album, Aliens and Rainbows, which will be released April 1, according to the artist’s official site.

Ferras’ track, “Hollywood’s Not America,” will be heard on American Idol for the first time February 12, when peeps get sent packing.

While it is not currently available for download, you can hear Ferras play the whole song live again by clicking here!

The 2008 edition of Rolling Stone featuring Britney Spears on the cover is a bit different from the now-classic issue starring of a young, innocent Britney a decade ago. This one tells the story of an American dream gone wrong.

The new issue features analyzes the singer’s downward spiral and looks at some of the many events that shaped who she is today. The magazine may not offer much in the way of insight, but does make some new revelations:

The singer’s mom, Lynne Spears, allowed Britney to get breast implants as a teen. But, after going under the knife, “she regretted the implants, particularly because her chest was still growing,” a friend says. “When her natural breasts became larger, she had the implants removed.” But Spears kept the surgery a secret. Adds the friend, “When other girls had their boobs done [they admitted it] and moved on, but Britney was brought up to lie about herself.”

The singer never bonded with father Jamie Spears, mostly because of his heavy drinking. “It was upsetting for Britney Spears to be around her dad,” a pal tells Rolling Stone. “He came backstage one night, and he was wasted. Britney was devastated. Britney would tell friends her father was emotionally abusive.”

Darrin Henson, a choreographer on Britney’s first album, … Baby One More Time, says: “Britney would come offstage after performing in front of 16,000 people and start crying. She thought she was terrible. The girl doesn’t know who she is.”

In the late-1990s, Britney was bribed to work around the clock. “If she didn’t want to come out of the trailer, the label would come to me saying, ‘Please talk to Britney, make sure she performs. We’ll take you on a shopping spree,’” a friend says. “She’d work on a video for 3-4 days straight for 20 hours a day.”

Throughout her career, she lobbied “to appear sluttier.” As a kid, her parents let a naked Britney Spears walk around the house. “Every girl in America was wearing crop tops and booty shorts, and Britney felt like she was being held back,” says a friend. “She would joke about wanting to do videos topless.”

She reportedly began sleeping with choreographer Wade Robson around the time of the 2001 VMAs. “In February 2002, Timberlake discovered a … note from Robson in Britney’s room. Britney and Timberlake were performing on Saturday Night Live that night, and they sat backstage miserable — he refused to accept her apologies,” an insider says. “The breakup was a terrible shock, particularly as it was followed by Britney’s parents divorce two months later.”

Britney Spears’ 2002 split from Justin Timberlake devastated her. “Justin had his head screwed on so straight… He became the great force in her life, but it started a pattern — she began to look for guys to help her get away from the people close to her who could control her,” an insider says.

Click here for the full article on Britney’s downfall …

We’re really not sure what draws us to the song “Seven Days of Lonely,” a single released iTunes in September 2007 by I Nine.

Maybe we like to expose you to new artists.

Maybe we just love cheesy pop-rock more than we admit.

Maybe it’s because we’re from small towns, and I Nine hails from Orangeburg, S.C., hardly a bustling metropolis in the middle of the Palmetto State.

Maybe it’s because their gorgeous singer, Carmen Keigans, looks like a mix of two of our favorite actresses, Hayden Panettiere and Blake Lively.

Maybe it’s because this song sounds like Avril Lavigne might if she could actually sing, or had a decent backing band. No offense, Avril.

Anyway, whatever the reason(s), we’ve got our eye on I Nine. Here’s the music video for “Seven Days of Lonely” …

Amy Winehouse has reportedly been interviewed by police regarding the recent video that surfaced online of the singer allegedly smoking crack.

As previously reported, Winehouse was filmed allegedly smoking crack and other drugs, with the video being released online by UK newspaper The Sun.

A spokesperson for Scotland Yard - which does not name suspects or people being questioned in connection with crimes unless they have been formally charged - confirmed that a 24 year-old female was interviewed recently.

Specifically, the unnamed individual was brought in for questioning in relation to unlawful possession of a controlled drug, the BBC reports.

Amy Winehouse, who is married to Blake Fielder-Civil, who is being held without bond on charges of assault and witness tampering, has not been arrested in connection with the video. Police say inquiries were continuing.

The Back to Black singer is in rehab battling drug and alcohol addiction after a rough period that had even her own family fearing the worst.

While a new generation of American Idol hopefuls make a case for stardom, one of our past favorites has tied the knot - with the actor and producer who encouraged her to try out for the hit Fox reality show in the first place.

Katharine McPhee and Nick Cokas, who have been together since 2005 since they met in a theater production, and who got engaged last fall, are now officially married. Congratulations to the happy couple!

The two married Sunday in Beverly Hills, with 300 (!) guests on hand. They jetted off to Hawaii for their honeymoon the very next day.

The American Idol runner up, 23, and Nick Cokas, 42, arrived in Maui Sunday and have been photographed in beach gear, hanging at a resort.

Katharine McPhee may have other honeymoon plans besides lounging.

“I want to have, like, 15 babies,” McPhee said last year. “I’ve always wanted to be pregnant.” From the photo above, it looks like she already is?

Just a theory.

She truly is, and this video sums up all that is great about the rising country star. “All-American Girl” is the new single off Carrie’s album Carnival Ride.

Underwood wears many hats - quite literally - in this video, dressing up as a nurse, flight attendant, policewoman, soldier, news anchor, waitress, astronaut and even a football player. It’s a fun music video and a very sweet song.

Our personal favorite moment is the shoulder shrug she makes regarding the truck she smashed up in the video for her hit, “Before He Cheats.”